


The Temple

by Tigerlillyruiz



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:07:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21747826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tigerlillyruiz/pseuds/Tigerlillyruiz
Summary: It's their next adventure. What could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: Chloe Frazer/Nadine Ross, Nathan Drake/Elena Fisher
Comments: 13
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you all enjoy this. Please let me know.

The night was long and both Chloe and Nadine were exhausted. They had spent an agonizing number of days looking for the Greek Goddess Artemis’s secret temple, and had finally discovered it hidden high in the mountains. It was there, at the face of a cliff, in the long-forgotten temple of Artemis’s where they found themselves. Together, they were in a room facing what Chloe suspected was a boogie trap. The room itself was mostly bare, but Chloe had been doing this long enough to know that those holes and indents in the walls meant that something was going to come flying out if they made the wrong move.

Chloe looked around the empty room seeing nothing, then she looked down. On the floor, a few steps ahead of them, were pictures of animals on each tile laid out before them. In total, there were four different animals depicted. 

Artemis was known as the goddess of the hunt, goddess of the moon, goddess of archery, and the protector of women. It just made sense that there was something about these animals that she needed to figure out. 

Nadine, her girlfriend and partner, ever by her side, eyed the openings in the walls with distrust. Chloe crouched down examining the depictions on the tiles

“Hey China,” she called, motioning Nadine over. “Come here a moment would you.”

Nadine silently obeyed walking over and crouching to her level beside her and following her gaze. Instantly she perked upon seeing the animals on the floor. She reached out to touch one only for Chloe to snatch her wrist in the air preventing her from completing the action. Nadine tilted her head.

“Something wrong?”

Chloe pointed to the floor in front of them. The animal tiles covered the rest of the expense in front of them.

“If we step on the wrong tile, I’d say we’re dead,” she replied standing up fully and dusting off her hands. “Lucky for us,” she smiled, “You are my Na-pedia of animal facts.”

Nadine’s head snapped to Chloe, her face turning red like a cherry. “You said you wouldn’t use that nickname on a job, only in private.”

Chloe turned. “Oh come on my Na-pedia, it’s only the two of us down here.”

She smirked, biting her bottom lip. Nadine looked down hiding her blushing face, and instead focused on the task at hand to keep from smiling an egging her girlfriend on.

“So tell me China, what do you see.” 

Nadine looked. The first tile had a picture of a lion, the second had a picture of a hawk, the third had a picture of a giraffe, and the fourth had a picture of a wolf. The answer was obvious. It was the giraffe . That was the only odd animal out, the rest were predators. This one was it; she was sure of it. Still, this was her puzzle to solve, and if she was mistaken and Chloe ended up getting hurt, she’d never forgive herself. So, before Chloe could stop her, she stepped on the tile and braced for an impact.

“Nadine!”

Nadine opened her eyes after a moment. Nothing had happened.

“Jesus Nadine! Don’t do that!”

Nadine shrugged. “The answer was obvious,” was her reply as she hopped her way across the room from tile to tile, with Chloe following behind.

Together they entered the treasure room. In its center, was an enormous stature of Artemis in all her glory. She was made complete with her bow and arrow, a stag, and a hunting dog by her side. Chloe took out her phone and snapped a picture for her collection before examining any further. At Artemis’s feet were dozens of miniature animal statues about the size of her Ganesh. As Nadine moved a bit away to examine something else, Chloe spotted that only one of those animal figurines was golden, and it was the dog, the rest of the animals were wooden. She looked them over. There was a bear, a pig, a hawk, a doe, a snake, a butterfly, and even an elephant among many others. As she pocketed the golden dog, she followed the aim of Artemis’s bow and arrow to the moon on the mural on the opposite side of the room. It was a bit to high for her to reach, but Nadine had followed her gaze and already had her hands cupped together at the ready. 

“I’ll give you a boost”

Chloe put her right foot in Nadine’s hold and was easily lifted as high as she could go. Putting most of her weight on the wall, she pressed on the moon with all her might. There was a click, and as if the temple wasn’t ancient, the wall sunk into the ground in less than a second.

Nadine for her part tried to stop Chloe from falling forward face first into the new room. “Shit!” was all Chloe had time to shout before hitting the floor hard, all of the air getting knocked out of her lungs, and her head bouncing off of the ground.

“Chloe!” Nadine shouted hands still in the air.

Before Nadine could move, there was an audible * clunk*. Nadine instinctively reacted. In the blink of an eye, Nadine bent over took a hold of Chloe’s belt in one hand and her shirt in the other, and pulled Chloe into her embrace, falling backwards and rolling a bit further away. She held Chloe close to her chest, breathing heavy, eyes wide. 

That had been way too close. 

Her eyes were fixed on where Chloe had landed not a few seconds ago, and in her place were now a bunch of arrows. Nadine held Chloe possessively close for a few moments longer as she tried to normalize her breathing. Once that was done, she gently laid Chloe down in her open lap and checked her. Chloe’s head was bleeding and she was unconscious. Nadine frowned. Chloe shouldn’t have been jostled around with an injury like that, but better jostled than dead. She continued looking for other injuries for a bit, but from what she could see, the only other injury that Chloe had sustained was a deep laceration to her hand. It looked like it had been cut through. Her frown only deepened. She had thought that she had gotten her girlfriend clear of the trap. This would need stitches, and there was certainly no way she was going to let Chloe scale back up the side of the cliff with only one good hand. For once, she was glad that Sam was up top, in the car, most likely smoking to his heart’s content and to his lung’s despair. 

Digging into her pant pocket, she pulled out a small first aid kit, and cleaned both wounds, putting two butterfly band-aids on Chloe’s forehead and wrapping up her hand as best as she could. She’d still need stitches, but this would do for now. Idly she caressed Chloe’s cheek as she looked into the new room. The floor still laden with arrows also had tiles with the lion, hawk, giraffe, wolf on them. Behind that lay a golden bow and arrow, both encrusted with rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. They were huge, said to be hand crafted, and made for Artemis by those who worshiped her.

Nadine scanned the room for any other obvious traps, and then looked away when she saw none. She was going to wait for her Chloe to wake; they were going to do this together. As she waited, she pulled out her phone and sent Sam a demand, he’d have the whinch lowered so he could pull them and the treasure back up safely.

After a few long worry filled minutes, Chloe started to stir coughing from the feeling of having the air knocked out of her. Once she regained her breath and fought the fuzz in her eyes, Nadine’s concerned gaze was the first thing she saw.

“Mmm,” she groaned. “How long was I out?” She slowly sat up with her partner’s help. She grabbed her head then pulled her hand back with a wince 

Nadine Grimaced. “Twenty minutes this time,” she supplied, pulling her into a hug and stealing a kiss from her lips; then gently and affectionately placed a hand on her head. “You gave me a good scare.” She turned her head to the arrows. “I almost lost you.”

Chloe followed her gaze. “Looks like you saved me again my love, how shall I ever repay you?” she smiled leaning her head into Nadine’s neck and breathing her scent in. That was her favorite spot. Nadine was her home, she always felt safe with her. 

“Another kiss would be nice,” Nadine relied, her face on Chloe’s head also breathing in her partner’s scent. 

Once Chloe was well enough, she and Nadine went up and snatched up their treasure. They’d be set for a long time after this. 

After a climb, or more Sam pulling them up the cliff, a car ride, and a plane trip over, everyone was safely back in London. They each went their separate ways to drop off their things. Chloe stashed their plunder in her apartment sized house. After a small bit of freshening up, they all went straight to a bar to celebrate. They ended up in a place called the Dirty Navel that smelled like old socks and stale fish but they didn’t care, they were there for the drinks. Chloe ordered a Mike’s hard lemonade, Nadine got a beer, and Sam had vodka neat.

After a while, it was getting late. They were on their third drink when Nadine excused herself and went to the restroom. When she was gone, Chloe looked at Sam. He was swaying and burping which he only ever did when he had exceeded his alcoholic limit and was at the ‘I’m- acting- like- an- idiot’ stage. She was also having trouble walking straight and her head was pounding, whether from the alcohol or the head injury she didn’t know. As she waited for her love to return, Sam got into her personal space and hiccupped.

“is there a mirror in your pants? Because, I think I can see myself in them”

Chloe almost hurled. GROSS. “You’ve had enough mate,” she said trying to push him back.

However, she was weaker in this state. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back hard against wall making her hit her head against it. Her heart started hammering against her chest. Now, she and Sam were friends and he wouldn’t ever hurt her, but she also knew that a drunken idiot was a drunken idiot. Subconsciously, she grabbed for the Ganesh in her pocket with her injured hand. 

When a waitress pushed her way between them both, Chloe made her escape. As she headed out the back door, panic surging through her, she saw Nadine heading back from the restrooms. Chloe felt sick, once the night air hit her face, she emptied the contents of her stomach. As she pulled out the figurine in her hand, a strange golden colored fog rolled in around her, and a sudden pain radiated throughout her whole being. 

The fog vanished the instant the door to the bar opened to reveal Nadine. Chloe had to be seeing things. Once again her body jerked forward and the purely liquid remains that were left in her stomach splattered onto the sidewalk. Nadine was at her side in an instant helping to steady her. Chloe looked into her eyes, they were filled with worry that had an underlying layer of something else, possibly anger. She couldn’t tell. She looked down at the Ganesh in her hand only to find the dog figurine in hand instead, and it had been covered in a bit of blood from how tightly she had been holding it. She closed her palm around the figure again. She was in pain again now, still doubled over. She clutched at her shirt, arms covering her torso.

“Chloe?”

Chloe turned to look at her again. Nadine’s eyebrows were knit together, frowning deeply. “What’s wrong Liefie?” 

Her voice was a bit strained as she replied, “I..I think I’m a-a bit more hurt than I realized.” 

Somehow Nadine’s grimace deepened, her gentle hold tightening a little bit.

“Do you think you can help me sit against the wall?” Chloe sucked in a steadying breath. ”So so I can try,” she managed.” To to see” 

Nadine didn’t hesitate to help her sit against the alley wall, taking a crouched position by her side. “Where does it hurt?”

“H-here,” Chloe panted lifting up her shirt.

Nadine’s eyes widened, barely stifling the gasp that wanted to slip past her lips. Chloe had very obvious and severe bruising on both sides of her ribs. The big bruises were an angry purple and blue. Nadine reached out cautiously but thought against it at the last second. She racked her brain for a cause, but she hadn’t seen Chloe take a hit that would account for this though. Maybe it was when Chloe had taken a tumble on her way down the cliff. Still she had been just fine only a few minutes ago. Adrenaline maybe? Still…

“You need a doctor.”

Chloe grimaced, “Please love, not tonight.” She closed her eyes and lowered her shirt back down. “How about you take me tomorrow, after you take the bow to the ministry, and deliver the arrow to that collector? Then you can take me to the hospital. I’m not feeling well enough to go negotiate on a price but I trust you. Deal?” she offered, out of breath and wincing. 

Nadine looked at her skeptically. “Promise?”

Nodding, Chloe promised.

“Okay, but I’m walking you home.” 

True to her word, Nadine walked her home, making sure she was safe, eyeing suspicious people and even guiding her away from a guy who was dancing with eaten pizza boxes.

When Chloe entered the house, she was beyond thankful to be home and not still in Greece, she was very grateful that Sully had flown them back the 3 or so hours home. She hadn’t been home since, they were always traveling for work or fun, and the few days they had been back, she had stayed at Nadine’s house. Then they went to visit Nadine’s home in South Africa since she still had some living family. Before this, on the pane ride over, Chloe had asked Nadine to stay with her for the night, but she had insisted on giving her girlfriend some time to rest and relax in her own bed alone, so now Nadine respectfully waited outside while Chloe retrieved the treasure. 

Now though, Nadine definitely wanted to stay, but she’d just have to wait till tomorrow like she had said.

Chloe handed over their prizes. “I’ll be here whenever you are done with both exchanges.”

“Okay, ill pick you up when I’m done, then we are getting you checked out okay liefie?” she gently kissed Chloe’s head then set on her way back to her own place.

Once she was at the corner off the street, and about to turn out of sight, Chloe called out to her,

“Nadine Wait!”

Nadine stopped and waited as Chloe made her way over.

“I almost forgot,” she removed the newly acquired souvenir from their latest adventure, as she handed her partner the golden figurine she continued. “I saw this in that temple and thought you’d like it, I know you like animals, and now, we both have a moment from our adventures. Kind of like an adventure set.” she finished bringing out her Ganesh and showing them side by side as a set. Nadine smiled so brightly it was practically ear to ear.

“I love it. It’s perfect and unique, just like you.”

They said their goodbyes again and Nadine left. Chloe slowly made her way back to her door. A sudden wave of nausea and pain ran all throughout her body, sending her stumbling through the door and onto her knees.

“Fuck!”

She could barely move from the ground; her heart and mind were racing. Slowly the fog started to roll in, that same golden fog from the ally, pooling around her like it was alive. The silvery light of the moon shined down on her through the open-door and as the sky itself seemed to part as a lightning bolt crashed down and electrified the foggy vortex around her. BANG! There is an explosion…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly have no idea what happened with the formatting and stuff. I'm still trying to figure out this website. Maybe it is different on the computer than on the phone.  
Anyway, let me know what you think.

Chloe slips a bit back into consciousness unable to open her eyes. She can tell she is in pain. Her hair hurt, her toes hurt, everything hurt. She didn’t remember much from the night before, but she remembered the pain, an explosion, and her body giving out on her. She remembered stumbling into the room breaking and bumping into the tv, the bookcase, and the chairs and many other things along the way. Then she remembered the floor. Was she on her knees? She was dialing someone’s number, right? Distantly she could hear the red alarm clock going off. It was past six-thirty, Nadine would be selling the artifacts to the ministry and that online buyer IndianaJonesGreenArtifact127. It didn’t matter now though, she could feel herself failing again.

__

Nadine was more than satisfied with the way that things were going today, the ministry was thankful for the bow and had paid generously enough, and the buyer she had found to satisfy Drake had paid a king’s ransom for the arrow. They’d be set for 7 years out of this. Now that that had been taken care of, she headed towards Chloe’s house. She’d take her to a doctor and hopefully convince Chloe to stay at her house while she healed up. Still, something was bothering her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something had felt off since last night like she had failed at something and something bad had happened.

Nadine drove on autopilot the rest of the way to Chloe’s house. The worry had taken over completely by the time she parked her car. 

Exiting the car, she kept her head down in thought and headed towards the door. Looking up and shaking the thoughts out of her head, she froze. Chloe’s door was ajar, that coupled with the feeling she couldn’t get rid of had her reaching for her gun as she approached. After fully opening the door, her eyes widened and her pulse raced. The door, the floor, and surrounding areas were marred as if there had been some kind of detonation. She hadn’t been here.

She could see a chair, a cabinet, and a coffee table strewn all over the floor, and the shattered remains of Chloe’s lamp, her television, and her picture frames along with it. However, amidst all this chaos, what freaked her out the most, was the tattered, burnt, and scattered remains of Chloe’s clothing on the floor, the speckles of dried blood on the floor, and the obvious smeared handprint on the wall leading to what Nadine assumed was the bedroom.

Whatever had happened here, she was late. Judging by the discoloration of the blood and the familiar clothes that were on the floor, whatever happened had happened last night, and she hadn’t been here. Chloe had been in no condition to put up much of a fight, if any at all, against whoever had done this. Nadine could hear the beating of her heart as she approached the room. If she found her Chloe’s body…she didn’t know what she’d do.

Entering the room, what she found surprised her. Next to the bed, under a nightstand, and next to what she knew was Chloe’s phone, was a silver dog. The poor little thing was hurt and bleeding. She had no idea Chloe had a pet. Quickly she cleared the rest of the house and pocketed the dead phone. Once that was done, she was both relieved and disheartened. On one hand, Chloe wasn’t dead right here in front of her, but on the other, she was injured, naked, and alone with who knew, or worse, dead somewhere else. She swallowed hard against the feelings and tears that arose at the thought. No matter how hard she looked, from what she could tell, whoever had done this had left no trail. She was going to have to call in some favors and do some digging to get her Chloe back. She had to get her back; Chloe was everything to her. 

For now, she moved the nightstand and picked up the silver little pup. She wasn’t going to let Chloe’s pet die.

___

Chloe felt horrible as she started to stir, her consciousness returning. Her eyes still closed she could tell she was under something soft. She didn’t remember getting on something soft. She inhaled deeply as she opened her eyes; her nose was going crazy. She could smell flowers, fresh fruit, Fabreeze, and a heavy coating of Shea butter mixed with bamboo that was all Nadine. She knew that smell very well, had memorized it through many days and nights wrapped in her arms, safe in her warm protective embrace. 

“ _ Where am I _ ?” She thought.

She blinked away the blurriness in her eyes as she woke, but it did nothing for the pain that returned with her consciousness.  _ Was..was she on a pillow on the floor? How is she get here? Where was here? _ Confused, she tried to stand but instantly fell over.  _ Something was defiantly off _ . She looked down at her hands. Her eyes went wide and she screamed, but all that came out was a long drawn out panicked whoof that sounded more like a whine. Her hands weren’t hands anymore and they were fury, and her injured right hand, _ Well not a hand anymore _ ... had a red bandage. 

“HOLY FUCK WHAT THE HELL” she yelled but still all that came out was a woof, a panicked pained shrill cry. “I died! I’m dead! I died! I must be dreaming.” She continued on in a frenzy. “That’s it!. I must be dreaming right? had too much to drink and this is how I pay for it.” She tried to reason. Still, in her head, she knew better.  _ You’re cursed _ . “No, no I’m not, this.. this is a dream. I .. I hit my head in that temple and Nadine is sitting there next to me waiting for me to wake!”  _ No, you’re cursed, You were there with Nate, You know it can happen. Just admit it. _

Taking in a deep breath, she let it out in a suffering sigh.”Shit” She was cursed. 

Then she heard it, two, maybe three, sets of thundering footsteps.  _ Everything is so loud _ . Turning her throbbing head to the noise, she was both scared and curious to find what was the cause. Nadine was where her eyes landed first and even though her love was the size of a freaking Horse now Nadine’s presence never failed to make her feel safe and calm.  _ She’s so freaking huge! oh, Nadine _ , her heart swelled.  _ You’re such a softie, my Na-pedia you must have seen whatever I am and couldn’t leave it. I must be inside your house _ , she thought as she looked over her weird bandaged torso. Y _ ou must have taken care of me,  _ she realized, warming her heart and intensifying the sweet tingly safe feeling inside her.

But it didn’t last because the next thing she saw was a giant hairy Yellow blur blob of a Golden Retriever heading towards her at full speed barking excitedly, which she could apparently now understand as, “Friend! Friend! New Friend! Friend! Friend!” She could feel her new hair stand on end. Despite herself, Chloe cowered trying her best to backpedal, but tripping over her newly formed legs and arms, her paws, slamming her already injured body into the corner behind her.

“Wait! No! Peaches Stop! Sit!” Chloe yelled.

Nadine who was about to stop the interaction was positively stunned when Peaches immediately stopped and sat before the new guest eyes wide sniffing the air and started to woof and huff at the frightened little creature. Peaches sniffed again.

“Chloe?! How did? What…How are you...Nadine’s been worried sick! Are you okay?” Peaches asked.

Chloe was flabbergasted. “You can talk! Wait! You can understand me? I can understand you! How did you know it was me?”

“HeHe the nose never lies, and I never forget a smell,” she preened “Also your voice is the same, yet somehow in my language, but I don’t understand... What happened to you?” She asked tilting her head to the side.

Nadine sat down silently watching, with the eyes of a child, completely awe letting this interaction unfold before she made her own.

“That’s just it, I don’t know,” Chloe replied, glad to have someone to communicate her worries with. “I mean this has to be a curse, but I’m the only one who got cursed. It doesn’t make sense.” oh how she wished she could throw up her arms to the sky. 

“Well did you touch something?”

“Well yes, but I didn’t touch anything Nadine didn’t.”

“Hmm well there is an answer here we just have to figure it out, and soon.” She continued, licking her on the neck and behind her ears in a soothing gesture “ Mom is in pain. She misses you. She blames herself for you being gone.”

“Oh Nadine,” trying her best to stand, she slowly and unsteadily limped her way into Nadine’s lap and gazed into those beautiful eyes that watched her carefully. “I’m here love, I’m right here,” she whined. 

Nadine’s gaze softened. “Hey there little one, it’s going to be okay, you’re safe here. Peaches and I won’t let anything happen to you.” Her voice was a promise. “I’ll find her okay.” Nadine continued, looking away from Chloe. “I’m going to fix this,” she finished, clenching her hands into fists at her sides.

Chloe could feel the air change, could smell the rotten scent of the poisonous emotions festering inside her and bubbling over into the surface. Chloe hated this, hated that her love felt like this, hated that she was the cause, hated that she couldn’t do anything in this stupid form. Still, she tried. She laid her head in the crook of Nadine’s neck and tried to kiss her, but she had no lips, so she licked her, bringing Nadine back out of her emotional hole.

“You’re a cute and affectionate little one, aren’t you? Where did Chloe find you hm?” she chuckled as Chloe continued showing her affection, kissing her everywhere she could.

Nadine slowly brought up her hands to Chloe’s new fur-covered skin, petting her softly, then breaking down and hugging her, releasing all of her pent-up emotions. Chloe was glad she could still do this for her, even in her new form. That wonderfully intoxicating smell of bamboo and shea butter that was all Nadine came back full force, no longer masked by the raging sea of destructive emotions. 

Nadine let out a sigh. “I need to call you something since I don’t know what your name is.” She looked down at the little dog in her lap. “I’ll call you Artemis for now. You look just like the statue your mom gave me.”

Chloe blinked.  _ The statue _ . Nadine’s phone rang just then. She carefully picked Chloe up and gingerly placed her back on the pillow.

“Tack care of her Peaches,” she ordered.

“Yes ma’am, Mom ma’am” She barked in reply, sitting protectively by Chloe.

Nadine answered her phone, walking away. “Do you have anything for me?”

As Nadine went out of view Peaches turned to her. “So you two are mated, right? I mean I’m not judging; I mean, I’ve never seen someone be able to do that for my mom, it was really-” 

“The Statue,” Chloe stated.

“What?”

“The statue! It has to be that Statue. I mean I’m literally the animal that it was carved into!”

“But Mom has been holding that thing since you disappeared, and she isn’t different.”

“Artemis, this has to do with Artemis,” Chloe thought aloud. “Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, Zeus’s daughter, goddess of the moon, defender of women…That’s it!” she shouted triumphantly. “She must have thought I needed protection from something!”

“Yeah, probably, I mean it makes sense that Mom isn’t affected, she’s a badass hehe. Wait. That statue had your blood on it. Who hurt you, Chloe?”

“No one, that was at the temple…but… the club…it must have been Sam. But how do we change me back?”

“First we have to get mom to know it’s you, she can figure out the rest, she’s really smart.”

“But how do we do that, I mean look at me,” Chloe said looking at her body.

“Oh, I have an idea,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!!!!!  
Let me know what you think.  
I totally forgot that I hadn't updated this story even though it was finished.HAHAHA at least I was able to give everyone a New Year's gift BD

Just then, the doorbell rang. As Nadine got up to go get the door, a terrifying and unbridled fear arose within Chloe, telling her to get away. She whimpered.

“Man, you don’t smell so good, are you okay?” Peaches asked.

Chloe cowered in her corner whining. “It-it’s like my body is scared of something, telling me to get away…it hurts”

The pup beside her whined. Something was wrong. “I’ll go get mom’s attention.”

Nadine opened the door and Elena, Nathan, and Sam walked in. Before Nadine could greet her guests or ask for their help in finding her beloved, Peaches pulled on her pant leg and whined, trotting back over to Chloe, who Nadine could see had taken some horrible kind of turn for the worst. Nadine’s heart squeezed and she rushes over as Nathan and Elena followed close behind. 

“Nadine, I didn’t know you had another pet,” Elena states. 

“I don’t, she is Chloe’s, I found her, she was under some overturned furniture at Chloe’s house. Poor thing probably tried to intervene and stop whatever happened to her mom. I’ve been taking care of her,” she explained, getting on the ground and gently petting her beloved’s pet.

Chloe heard the sound of a toilet flushing and then Sam appeared before them. Chloe immediately got worse, her whole body was quaking and in pain. She backed into the corner trying to get away, practically crying out of pain and fear.

“It’s him, I have to get away.”

“This is the guy that hurt you?” Peaches growled, “I won’t let him get close” Peaches stood between the two of them.

Nadine carefully tried to pick up the little dog and cradled her close, but the poor thing kept backing away clearly afraid and in pain. To her surprise her pup bared her teeth, fur bristling, at Sam and started growling protectively, not that she wasn’t happy to see the elder Drake brother cower.

“Hey Nadine, call off your killer dog.”

“She’s just doing her job Drake, your Smokey presence is scaring the little one”

Chloe tried her best but it was all too much, the curse in her was reacting to sam. She wanted to stay but her mind was fogging over and her body was screaming at her. She bolted.

Nadine took hold of the collar around Peaches’ neck and tried to calm her down when a flash of silver dashed past them and out the door that had accidentally stayed open. Her stomach dropped. “No, wait! Artemis! Stop her!” Letting go of Peaches she pushed past Sam and ran towards the door.

Once she reached the door, she looked in every direction, but Chloe’s dog was nowhere to be seen. she’d lost her. She’d lost them both “No, no, I can’t lose them both. Peaches!” she called as Elena made it to her side.

“Wow she really didn’t like Sam I wonder what he did to cause a reaction like that “ Elena commented, “ What do you need us to do Nadine?”

“Everyone needs to separate, call me if you see anything and ill do the same” crouching down, she looked her hairy child in the eyes “Find her peaches”

If Nadine didn’t know any better, she’d say that peaches saluted her before taking off at a pace that she could follow.

***

Chloe didn’t know where she was and she didn’t know for how long she’d been running, but the one thing she did know was that she was lost. The world looked so different around her. it was getting dark and she thought she must be in some kind of park or something because everywhere she looked, she no longer saw any buildings around her. 

“I can’t believe I ran away” she complained to the air around her. “I’ve got to get back to Nadine she’s probably worried sick.” she turned around trying to find a way to venture. 

“Tree… Tree… Bush...Tree.. ugh this isn’t helping I’m too short to see anything helpful!” She decided to keep walking, or limping as it were. her bandaged paw was no longer bandaged, having lost it a while back while she was still running in her crazed state, and whatever adrenaline she had had in her system had definitely worn off because she was definitely in pain. Her paw was bleeding and would probably get infected and then she’d have to see a veterinarian “ man, I hope Nadine doesn’t decide to have me fixed or I just might have to -“ 

Chloe’s hackles raised in alarm and she froze in her tracks. Something was wrong. There was something out there “ _ think Chloe,”  _ she told herself as she lowered herself closer to the ground “ _ it must be some kind of animal, what animals did Nadine say lived here in London?... falcons..umm...deer..foxes.. and what was that last one she mentioned?”  _

A sudden snapping of a twig to her left had her swerving her head as something barreled into her. She collided roughly with the ground as she felt a set of teeth clamp their way around her neck cutting off her supply of oxygen and drawing blood as a clawed paw was used to pin her down.

“Coyote!” She gasped as she struggled uselessly to get free.”Nadine!!” She whimpered. Chloe couldn’t breathe and black dots were starting to cover her field of vision and she closed her eyes resigned to her fate. Destined to die cursed and alone, to leave Nadine with no answers and regret, to never see those northern lights in Nadine’s arms, to never again feel the warmth of her lover’s skin beneath her hands again. She’d never be able to ask Nadine if she’d be willing to partake in the biggest adventure of both their lives and tie herself to Nadine in marriage. She was even going to miss Peaches, whose voice she was barely starting to discover, but whose presence she had always enjoyed. She whimpered weakly.

out of nowhere, the weight on top of her was knocked off of her and she was able to breathe again. Opening her eyes she saw Peaches standing her ground, teeth beared, against the bloody muzzled menace that had almost taken her out for lunch, literally. “I’d run if I was you” Peaches growled out to the Coyote. “Mom’s got a gun and ill defend my pack to my last breath.”

Chloe feebly turned her head, from her spot on the ground, to see Nadine emerge through the bushes sweaty and a bit out of breath. 

___

Nadine was exhausted, but she knew that Peaches was hot on Artemis’s trail. she wasn’t going to go home empty-handed. Nathan, Elena, and Sam had already had to stop looking for Chloe’s pet so they could go home and take care of their daughter. She wasn’t going to let Chloe down again by losing her little silver pup. Quickly Nadine got lost in her thoughts of Chloe. 

  
  


Almost unconsciously she pulled out Chloe’s phone from her pocket. After she had taken it off the floor from Chloe’s house and charged it, she had discovered that Chloe had tried to dial her number, but was never able to press call before whoever took her took her. The phone sat heavily, like a brick, in her palm and never failed to send a stab through her heart. If she had just said yes to Chloe, on sully's plane, and stayed the night with her then she would have been there to protect her, to stop whatever happened from happening. Peaches would have been okay for another day, she had enough food in her automatic dispenser to last another two weeks, and she had a collar that allowed her to enter and exit the doggie door so she could relieve herself. Still, she had made her choice and now the one woman in the world that she loved was gone, and hurt, possibly dead and she’d regret it forever.

A whimper in the distance snapped her out of her self destructive thoughts and sent Peaches running at full speed. Nadine followed her four-legged daughter closely not wanting to lose her trail. She lost sight of peaches for a moment, after she bolted through a thicket, and heard a scuffle of some kind. Slowly she stepped through the bushes and saw Artemis unmoving on the ground neck and torso bloodied, Peaches dutifully protecting her from a hungry coyote. 

Immediately she reached for the gun she had and drew it, ready to shoot to defend herself and her pets, but it ran off before she had to use that kind of force. Carefully she removed her shirt and wrapped it around Artemis as best she could. The poor little thing was whimpering in pain but still trying to show her some affection. “ don’t worry girl, I’m going to get you all fixed up okay” 

Peaches was still standing defensively between them and any danger. She was grateful for that “ good girl Peaches, you found her just in time” 

Gingerly she picked up and cradled the bundled up little pup and set off to the nearest road so she could find a taxi to the closest veterinarian. “ come Peaches”

——

  
  


Chloe groggily opened up her eyes and felt a profound sense of Deja Vu. Again she found herself waking in Nadine’s house on a pillow on the floor. This time though, she stayed laying down. She was in too much pain and when she tried to move her head, in search of either Nadine or Peaches, a pained whine escaped her. 

All at once, she felt a warm and familiar pair of hands on her “Nadine”

“You’re okay girl, the doctor said you’re going to be okay but you’re going to have to eat for me in a bit okay, it’s been over a week since you’ve had anything. you gave us quite a scare, you were out for a few days” Nadine continued as she gently pet the little pup “ you sure are one lucky pup” she said offering a syringe full of water to her, which Chloe lapped up greedily, “ peaches found you just in time”

At the Chloe remembered seeing peaches and the coyote face off before Nadine got there “ peaches, is she okay” she raspily whoofed out

“ don’t worry, I’m fine, that coyote couldn’t even touch me,” Peaches said, giving her a gentle lick and curling around protectively around her.

“You saved me, thank you”

“ It was nothing, I’d do anything you and mom”

Nadine stopped petting her for a moment to stand and pull a tube out of a brown bag on her kitchen counter. After she had the tube in her possession, she walked back over and sat down in front of Chloe and squeezed out some pasty substance onto her finger.

“ here girl please eat this” Nadine offered her finger.

“What is it?” Chloe turned her head “China, I’m not going to eat dog food”

“Please girl” Nadine wiggled her goopy finger.

Peaches turned her head. “ you should never turn down food Chloe, plus we don’t know how long you’re going to be in this body, if you don’t eat you’ll just end up starving” 

“ come on Artemis, please, I even got the bacon-flavored one”

Chloe’s heart just about melted, even though Nadine was Jewish she had gone out of her way to make sure that she survived and ate. She couldn’t turn her head away this time. Steeling herself, she took a small tentative lick  _ “Oh it is bacon flavored, that's actually not so bad”  _

Nadine continued finger feeding her for a while, but stopped when she got a call on her phone and walked into her office. 

“Peaches” Chloe prompted, “ You said you had an idea to get Nadine to realize it’s me. Do you remember what it was?” She asked. Id like my body back.

  
  


“Oh, that’s right! I can do it now, but I’ll probably get in trouble for this.” Peaches pouted, hanging her head a bit, not wanting to be a bad girl.

“When I change back, I’ll get you whatever you want,” Chloe promised.

“Really?!” She wagged her tail. “I mean I was going to do it anyway. I’d die for Mom, and you’re part of our pack, you’re her mate, and I love you, but since you offered, can you get me some Broccoli? Mom always slips it under the table when she makes it”

Chloe laughed internally “ _ Nadine hates broccoli, hehe that’s adorable”  _ Taking a shaky breath she replied,“ Broccoli? Really, you don’t want a meaty treat or something?”

“What’s that?”

_ “Oh, you poor thing,”  _ She thought to herself “I’ll get you both.”

“Sweet!” She triumphantly yelled, tail fanning even faster, stretching her legs. “I’ll be right back,” she said, slowly making her way to Nadine’s office where Nadine was looking out the window immersed in her conversation.

“Ja, come over, I could use the help, all my contacts have come up dry, but Chloe has to be somewhere” she finished, closing her phone and turning around only to find her pup with her eyes comically large, caught in mid-act of grabbing the golden statue off of her desk. “…Peaches” Nadine warned, eyebrow raised and finger extended.

Like lightning, her daughter closed her mouth over the statue and went running.

“Peaches!” she yelled chasing after her, “Sit” Nothing. Her baby never acted out like this, what was going on? 

When Nadine finally reached her, she was sitting next to their new guest, and as she got closer, the statue was dropped at the little dog’s paws.

“What are you,” Nadine bent down to grab the figurine when a bandaged paw came to rest on her hand. She looked up meeting those silver-grey eyes, that she’d looked into about a thousand times, for the first time since she’d been lost to her. “Ch-Chloe?” she breathed.

She got an excited whoof and a bark in reply. She looked down at the bandaged appendage and at the figurine shining there on the floor. Then with wet eyes and voice trembling, she got down on her knees and looked into those eyes.

“Chloe, I thought…I thought I lost you.”

Chloe rested her head in that favorite spot of hers, happy whines coming from her throat.

“It’s been days and I’ve had you here within arm’s reach this whole time. oh christ! you almost died, and I fed you dog food!” Nadine hugged her gently, making sure not to crush her. “How did this happen?” She asked pulling away slightly to look into her girlfriend’s eyes.” wait, how do I know it’s you, I might just be projecting my own wants and seeing what I want to.”

Chloe huffed in annoyance.

“If you’re Chloe, then answer my questions...What is your favorite color?”

Chloe blinked.

“Blue?” no reply.

“Green?”, no reply.

“Red?” Chloe barked.

“What was our first mission for?”

“Eldorado” No reply.

“The tusk” Chloe barked.

“Who is your favorite person?” Chloe nuzzled and Nadine’s neck.

“It is you! Oh, Chloe! How?” Nadine gently hugged her fragile body close.

  
  


Chloe gestured to the statue and Peaches put it in her hand. Nadine looked at the shining thing over, noticing the blood.

She paused, “you didn’t have this in your hand when you were hurt, or you would have changed sooner if it had happened then.” 

With Chloe unable to answer her, she continued thinking aloud.

“But the only other place we went to that night was the bar, then you were hurt in the alley and I thought I saw golden fog around you,” she winced. “I must have stopped the transformation and that’s why you were hurt more than you were before.”

Chloe only nodded.

“So, then it must have been at the bar before you left, but why did you get turned into a dog? What happened to do this?”

Just then, the doorbell rang, and Nadine placed Chloe back on her pillow so she could answer the door. Again Chloe’s body withered and pained, except this time she was too injured to run away.

“He’s back” Chloe whimpered.

Already Peaches was at attention by her side. “Don’t worry Chloe, I’m here, if he tries to hurt you again ill bite his winky see how he likes it.” 

“Wow, she doesn’t look so good. What cursed her? Maybe I can figure out how to break it,” Nathan asked as Nadine brought Him and Elena over after  filling them in.A few seconds later sam ambled in with a beer in his hands, and Chloe whined as Peaches growled.

Nadine picked up Chloe’s aching form and handed over the golden figurine for Nate to examine it.

“Where did you get this from?”

“It was on our last mission, at the hidden temple for the goddess Artemis.”

“And the treasure?”

“It was a bow and arrow.”

“Do you still have the arrow? You’ll probably need that.”

Nadine looked down at Chloe’s quivering form in worry, she had been doing well a second ago. “No, but I know where it is, however, I’m not going to be leaving Chloe again. The buyer knows me from the trade-off also,” she replied. 

“Don’t worry about that Nadine. Nate and Sam will get it back,” Elena reassured.

  
  


Nadine didn’t understand why Chloe was acting like this, then something clicked. “I’ll be right back,” she said excusing herself from the group. “Come on,” she called, and her companion followed.

The closer they got to her bedroom and the further they got from Sam, the better Chloe seemed to get. After closing the door behind them, she placed Chloe on the bed amidst the pillows and watched as she hid inside.

Anger in her voice Nadine asked, “Sam is connected to this isn’t he?”

Chloe whoofed in response.

Nadine sighed fighting back her anger. “I’ll go deal with them,” she said to Chloe, then turning to her hairy four-legged daughter “Stay here, protect her.” 

She got a whoop in reply and closed the door behind her.

Nadine rejoined Sam, Nathan, and Elena. “Do you think you two can get the arrow back?” She asked Sam and Nathan.

“Yeah, I mean you didn’t involve me in the transaction, and if they look into it, they’ll see you don’t exactly…like us, so they won’t see it coming. It should be simple enough,” Sam chuckled.

“Okay then you two work on getting it back, Elena can you help me figure out why this happened and how to reverse it?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you, Elena,” she said, turning to the door of her room.

“We’ll let you go take care of Chloe. I’m glad you found her. Come on you two,” Elena directed the last sentence to Nathan and Sam.

“Here,” Nathan said handing the statue back over. “We’ll be in touch. Take care of her,” he added over his shoulder as they left the house. 

Nadine closed the door and went back to her room. When she got there, she found Chloe cuddled around her pillow asleep, and Peaches curled around her, wagging her tail. Nadine sighed joining them on the bed, pulling Chloe in close and petting her dog.

“I’ll figure this out Chloe, I promise.”

—a few days later—

Elena was by Chloe’s side wearing a green t-shirt, on the floor of a third-story hotel room.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Elena asked Nadine.

“It has to,” Nadine clenched her fists and grabbed the golden arrow, that Nate and sam had required, off of the bed.

“What are you going to do to him?”

“What I must.”

“But this is Sam.”

“It’s his fault, Elena, I figured out what happened. I had thought I was seeing things because of the alcohol, so I didn’t do anything so it’s my fault too.”

“What do you mean?” Elena asked just as there was a knock on the door.

Elena grabbed Chloe’s trembling form and sat on the bed with her. Nadine walked over with the arrow in hand and opened the door with a very pissed face.

Chloe was worried, but she knew Nadine would never hurt him, well not too much. Sam walked in.

“I’m here, you said you figured out what happened,” he said looking around. “Hey, where’s Nate?”

Nadine closed the door behind him.

“I did figure it out,” she said, her anger barely controlled. “You see, Artemis protects women, it took me a while to figure this out because I didn’t believe it,” she continued hotly, basically hurdling him to the balcony. “Something happened at the bar that night that made Chloe feel unsafe, something that triggered the statue into protecting her with its curse!” she all but yelled.

“Whoa Nadine,” Sam stuttered as his back hit the railing.

“I saw you that night,” she said bringing up the arrow and drawing blood as she pressed it to his neck.

Sam’s eyes widened.

Eyes aflame, Nadine yelled“I saw you force Chloe! I saw you force her to that wall in the bar. I saw you hurt her!”

“I-I was drunk.”

“And you think that’s an excuse!?” Nadine threw the arrow to the floor and took his shirt by the collar. 

“I-I’m sorry,” he pleaded. ”There must be something I can do to fix this!”

Nadine looked him dead in the eye. “There is.” She leaned close to his ear. “Blood for blood,” she whispered.

Holding him with both hands now, Nadine and tossed Sam over the balcony. She turned her back to his fading cry.

With that done, there was a golden glow. Elena put Chloe down and her whole body became a bright, blinding light as she shifted back to normal, leaving her naked and unconscious on the bed. Nadine was at her side in an instant, covering her with a blanket and cradling her head. 

A few mins later, Chloe stirred in her lover’s arms, opening her eyes and looking at her hands.

“It worked!” she smiled. “Oh China,” she reached out for Nadine’s face. 

Nadine leaned into the touch, breathing out a sigh of relief and content. She leaned forward and stole a gentle kiss. 

“You really had me worried Chloe,” she said, resting her forehead against her girlfriend’s.

“Yeah, I was worried too, I never thought I’d be able to hold you again.”

“Wait, when did you two finally get together? I’ve been waiting for it to happen!” Elena asked excitedly, a wide grin on her face. “Nate and Sam are going to freak!”

Chloe’s eyes widened at that, “Shit Sam!”

Nadine chuckled. “Don’t worry, that idiot is fine,” she said messing with Chloe’s hair.

“But.”

As if on cue, the door swung open, revealing a ghostly pale and soggy Sam at the door, his brother dying of laughter holding one of Elena’s handheld video recorders.

“What in the ever-living fuck!” Sam yelled. “You scared the piss out of me! Literally!”

“Ja, well that’s what you get, and trust me,” Nadine glared, “I held back.”

“Was that completely necessary to get Chloe back?” Sam whined.

Nathan for his part was still laughing. “That’s what you get for teasing me about her throwing me out the window,” he wheeled out, not even caring that he was interrupting.

“No, it wasn’t. Not to get her back anyway, all I needed was your blood on the arrow, but you deserved it. If you can’t hold your liquor to the point that you are getting physical with people who want nothing to do with you, then either count your drinks or don’t drink at all,” she looked his soggy form over. “Got the message?”

“Geeze,” he shivered, “you could have just said something.”

“Trust me mate, you got off easy,” Chloe said, snuggling closer to Nadine and nuzzling her neck, not even paying him any mind as Nadine held her more possessively and protectively. 

“Wait…” Sam said staring at them both, “are you both together?” He’s asked.

Nathan stopped laughing. Nadine smirked, and if it were possible Sam paled even further.

“OH MY GOSH, I COULD HAVE DIED!” 

After a moment he looked at them there on the bed together, the rest of the world around them gone, lost in each other’s eyes.

“You two look good together, you should have a ship name... I think Chlodine,” he said looking proud of himself.

Nadine frowned at him.

“What’s wrong China?” Chloe asked.

“Mmm, I don’t like it.” 

Sam rolled his eyes. “What would you like?”

“Razer,” Nadine stated.

“Wait, doesn’t that mean to demolish, to level to the ground, or shave away?” Nathan asked. “Why that?”

“Because that is what we will do together to anyone who crosses us,” Nadine glared at Sam.

He withered under her gaze and cleared his throat. “Message received.”

—later that night—

Two golden figurines sat on the nightstand, one a Ganesh, the other an animal, now powerless, but still beautiful. 

Peaches was on the floor by the bed, eating her broccoli and saving the meaty treat for later. On the bed, Nadine held Chloe close, careful of her still-healing body.

“Don’t tell Sam I like Chlodine,” Nadine admitted.

Chloe’s laughter filled the air. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it did you hate it, let me know

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!


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